Bicycles have long been used as a means of transportation and recreation. Virtually all bicycles known in the prior art have involved a relatively rigid frame, which transmits directly to the rider shocks resulting from potholes, rocks or other unevenness in the riding surface. This has resulted in discomfort to the rider which is at the least undesirable, if not unacceptable.
The typical solution to this problem found in the prior art has been to include a shock absorbing suspension on the bicycle similar to those found in motorcycles or on cars. The difficulty with nearly all prior art designs is that each of them absorbs a significant amount of force which would otherwise provide forward movement. While this loss is not significant for a motorcycles or a car, it is unacceptable where the only available motive force is the pedaling of a human being.
More recently, the inventor of the present application has discovered various techniques for minimizing energy loss in bicycle suspensions. Rear suspensions for bicycles are shown in both U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,174 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,937. While the suspension designs described in these patents offered many advantages over all prior art designs, limitations exist on the range of geometries available with such designs.
As a result, there has been a need for an alternative to such prior art 15 designs.